How to be a Cultured Reader: Candide, or Optimism – Voltaire

This is a pedantic series of entries about classic novels you should read if you wish to make an impression at uptown soirees catering to cultured types. Look on the bright side: there is no such thing as a born ignoramus. 

Candide, or Optimism – Voltaire

Year of publication: 1759

Edition: Penguin Classics, 2005

Plot: Candide is a naïve young man shaped by his tutor Pangloss’ philosophy positing that ‘all is for the best.’ When Candide ventures out into the big bad world to face his demons, he is thwarted by outrageous (and often hilarious) disasters ranging from earthquakes to the Inquisition. At the end of his harrowing journey, he learns to question his tutor’s stance and grows into maturity.

Why this novel:

1. This is the European novel of enlightenment that raised the question of the individual’s right to freedom of expression. It is the forefather of all satirical works, and was for the longest time perceived as a threat by the Church and various governments (it’s temporarily banned in America in 1929). It is a subversive little work that questions philosophy, religion, politics, and human behaviour. The novel’s chief target is German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who theorised that since God is omnipresent and omnipotent, the actual world, despite its atrocities and horrors, must be the best of all possible worlds. This is obviously a religious (and somewhat deluded) attempt at reconciling evil with a supposedly merciful God. Candide shows the reader how preposterous the standpoint is by lampooning Leibniz (disguised as Pangloss). The result is often laugh-out-loud funny.

2. The novel is now seen as an early advocate of freedom of speech. In its time it was seen as seditious and dangerous, and many attempts were made by the Church to eliminate it. (Voltaire published the novel under a pseudonym.) This is of course a fate that many modern authors know well (Rushdie anyone?). The massacre of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff in Paris by Islamist terrorists once again reminds us that organised religion is the greatest enemy to the right of freedom of expression. It is ironic to see that nothing about human nature has changed between Voltaire’s time and ours. The novel is indispensable to every man (or woman) who refuses to bow down to oppression and tyranny.

3. It often presents a bleak but realistic view of mankind – couched in Voltaire’s unique sardonic sense of humour. In Chapter 21, Candide asks the following of Monsieur Martin, an amateur philosopher he met in Suriname:

‘Do you think,’ said Candide, ‘that men have always massacred one another, as they do today? That they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates and brigands, as well as weaklings, shirkers, cowards, backbiters, gluttons, drunkards, misers and social climbers, in addition to being bloodthirsty, slanderous, fanatical, debauched, hypocritical and downright stupid?’ – ‘But don’t you accept,’ replied Martin, ‘that hawks have always killed pigeons when they come across them?’ – ‘Without a doubt,’ said Candide – ‘Well, then,’ said Martin, ‘if hawks have always had the same nature, why do you expect men to change theirs?’ (59)

This is Voltaire’s attack on the Christian doctrine of the Fall, which claims that Man had been good and innocent until he was corrupted by freedom and desire. He was of the opinion that the essence of Man’s character has always persisted unchanged. In other words, evil has always resided within Man – Fall or no Fall.

Conclusion: Satire is an art form as well as a means to re-evaluate human behaviour. It is the only effective weapon against religious fundamentalism, turning an abstract notion like freedom of speech into something concrete and capable of taking down the biggest bullies on the playground. It is an art form every man, woman, and child must master, and there isn’t a better place to start than Candide.